Stratford City mixed use development near east London's 2012 site gets go-ahead

Stratford City, one of the largest regeneration projects in London, has been given the go ahead by the Olympic Delivery Authority and Newham Council. Stratford City is 'a new metropolitan centre for East London' and will be built on a 180 acre site on the former Stratford Rail Lands around Stratford International Station - part of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link project. The retail-led development, for client Westfield, is adjacent to the London 2012 Olympic site. The scheme does not include the Olympic Village, as this part of the scheme was sold off by Westfield to the ODA last year. Stratford City is the largest retail-led, mixed-use urban regeneration project ever undertaken in the UK.

Situated adjacent to the site of the London 2012 Olympic Games, the £4 billion development will create a new and vibrant metropolitan centre for East London. The 180-acre site will provide 1.25 million sq m of new retail, leisure and entertainment facilities, offices, hotels, housing, community facilities, open spaces and over 5,000 dedicated retail car parking spaces.

At the heart of the site, the development will provide 175,000 sq m of shopping, leisure and entertainment space. This will include three flagship stores, over 200 retail units offering a diverse mix of national and international fashion and lifestyle brands, and an eclectic mix of dining opportunities. The John Lewis Partnership has already committed to the scheme as one of the three flagship anchors and will provide a full range John Lewis department store and fresh food brand Waitrose.

465,000 sq m of the development has been allocated to office space and 120,000 sq m to hotel and conference space. 460,000 sq m of residential space will provide approximately 5,000 new homes supported by 32 acres of public spaces, new squares, parks, gardens, natural ecological habitats and a unique multi-levelled lake. The integration of open spaces, parkland and landscaping will create diversity of design and a stunning new urban landscape for the area.

Stratford City has committed over £125 million to developing community facilities, including schools, healthcare, transport infrastructure and recruitment support. The project will act as a catalyst for the regeneration of the entire Lower Lea Valley and Thames Gateway region and will become a world-class example of urban regeneration.
Construction is planned to commence in late 2007.

The Stratford City development was granted planning permission by Newham Council in September 2004 and was approved by the Mayor of London and the Government Office for London in October 2004. Construction is due to start in late autumn 2007, with the first phase of the development due for completion in late 2009. The entire development is scheduled to be complete by 2020.

Stratford City will transform the area providing 13.5 million square ft of mixed-use development including:

• 5 million square ft of commercial development including landmark buildings
• 1.5 million square ft of new shopping, leisure and social facilities. The retail element will comprise 100+ retail units with 3 anchor department stores.
• 5,000 new homes and 1, 000 new residents. 30% of homes will be affordable (shared ownership, key worker and social rented)
• 2,000 new hotel rooms
• A new 900 pupil secondary school, and a primary school for up to four forms of entry
• A primary health care centre and an NHS walk-in centre
• 15,000 jobs in the construction phases
• A further 29,000-34,000 new, permanent jobs (up to 25,000 in financial and business services, 6,000 in retail and 3,000 in leisure, entertainment and hospitality)

Around 30 per cent of the homes in the Stratford City development will be affordable, following negotiations with SCDP that have been a model of openness. An independent financial appraisal was carried out for Newham and the Greater London Authority by ATIS REAL Wetheralls, which concluded that 30 per cent is the level of affordable homes this particular development could support without becoming economically unviable. A legal agreement means that if more funding becomes available to support affordable housing, a further 5 per cent could be achieved. This means a minimum of 1,350 new homes in Stratford for those in need of social housing or who can't afford full market prices.

Stratford City will be built on derelict rail lands around Stratford station. It is situated next to the main London Olympic Games site and would play a significant role in a London Games in 2012.